Jonathan Takiff | Hybrid systems bring cell phones home

THE GIZMO: Cell phone enhancements from GE, T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel.

Are you one of those people who feels the pain every month when paying for both home and mobile phone services?

Do you get annoyed when people call you on the wrong line - say, on the cell phone you left in the kitchen while you're upstairs relaxing in the bedroom?

If you've answered in the affirmative, sit up and take notice of a snazzy new hybrid product from Thomson's GE brand, and some freshly hatched technologies from T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel.

These gizmos let you "make do" better with just a mobile phone, or neatly integrate home and mobile services.

CELL FUSION: As the name suggests, the new GE Cell Fusion DECT 6.0 phone is a model of versatility.

At first glance, the $179.99 package looks like a conventional cordless home phone system. There's a base station with on-board answering machine and docking phone. Plus a second cordless phone with an AC-powered recharging cradle that you can locate virtually anywhere in the home, thanks to its robust, DECT 6.0 digital transmission technology.

If you have a landline, connect it to the GE's base station and you're instantly in business.

But wait, you don't even need a landline to create a whole-house phone system.

Just place your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone (or even two) within 30 feet of the GE base station, making sure the Bluetooth connectivity switch (that you'd also use for a wireless headset) is enabled and "synchronized" (requiring a one-time setup).

Now whenever a call comes in on the mobile, it's automatically retransmitted to the Cell Fusion system for pickup on the cordless handsets.

And trust me, these phones are much more comfortable to use in extended conversations than a typical mobile.

This magic trick works for outgoing calls, too. Just tap the "cell phone" button on a GE cordless and dial. The call is channeled through the mobile phone and service provider.

But if you have both landline and mobile accounts, Cell Fusion lets you initiate three-way conference calling, wedding both services. Or one handset user can be talking through the mobile line, while another is on the landline. And if, God forbid, one service goes out, you've still got the other as a fallback.

Up to seven Cell Fusion handsets work with one base station.

Cell Fusion also offers back and forth schmoozing between handsets: privately, using the menu-driven intercom feature; or quickly and loudly by tapping the walkie-talkie "push to talk" (make that, squawk) button on the phone.

OTHER SOLUTIONS: New solutions from T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel also aim to make a mobile phone the only one you'll want to use. Both recognize that cell phone service can be dicey in some interior locations.

T-Mobile's notion is to build a second transmitter/receiver using Wi-Fi technology into select phones and to have the user install a compatible Wi-Fi base station/broadband modem in the home.

This base doesn't need to be in a location with good mobile reception, but it does require a connection to the Internet and T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service.

So now when you're home and using a select T-Mobile phone, calls are automatically routed over the Internet and Wi-Fi. You also can use the Wi-Fi feature at about 8,500 T-Mobile hot spots nationwide.

These calls don't count against a monthly minutes plan. You do have to pay, though, for the HotSpot@home Service. The introductory, $9.95-a-month price is expected to rise soon.

Truth is, T-Mobile would benefit even if the service were free, since Wi-Fi calling reduces its wireless network congestion.

The HotSpot service works with the just-launched BlackBerry Curve smart phone, priced at $249 with a two-year contract.

This slim beauty also features access to personal and corporate e-mail, of course, and Web browsing through either Wi-Fi or T-Mobile's EDGE data network, as well as a 2 megapixel camera, music and video player, and microSD card slot.

Less grandiose compatibles are the Nokia 6086 and the Samsung t409, each priced at $49 with a two-year contract. The required base station is free after a $50 mail-in rebate.

VARIATION ON THE THEME: Sprint Nextel's version uses a compact cellular base station/broadband modem called a femtocell. While also routing calls through the Internet, it retransmits to a phone via conventional CDMA cellphone technology.

Thus it can work with any registered Sprint phone and with super-long reach - up to 5,000 feet.

This service began last week in Denver and Indianapolis and goes national next year.

The Samsung-made Airave femtocell is priced at $49.99. Monthly service charge is $15 for one phone or $30 for a family plan, in addition to the regular cell voice plan. *

Send e-mail to takiffj@phillynews.com.